Central Valley fruit packer goes big-time solar

 PARLIER

 July 30, 2013 9:00pm 

•  SunWest Fruit Company generating a megawatt of power, with more on the way

•  “Pays for itself in five years”

Installation of solar panels atop SunWest's packing plant

 Parlier-based family-owned SunWest Fruit Company has gone solar for its packing plant with a one-megawatt system designed and installed by Pickett Solar of Fresno.

During the past ten years, SunWest had upgraded lighting and used computer programs to lower incremental power demands. They also reviewed their rate schedule to make adjustments in usage, but it wasn’t enough.

“We could offset our electricity expense in most areas of our farming operation, but we could not offset our packing house usage from peak utility rates in the afternoons,” says Martin Britz, president of SunWest.

The main problem was the “pre-cooling and packing equipment that must run on the hot afternoons.”

The company decided that a solar power array could bridge the gap.

“Investing in an energy source that will not go up in price and that pays for itself in five years is a sound, bankable decision — vital to long term stability and growth,” says Dean Thonesen, SunWest vice president.

The 3,240 solar panels offset about a third of the packing plant’s electricity usage.

"I believe this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, solar project built by a locally owned solar company," says Mike Pickett, president of Pickett Solar, a division of Don Pickett & Associates.

He says that due to site constraints, the system had to go on the roof. “You must make sure the roof can support the weight of the system. After reviewing the old steel drawings and field verifying the steel gauge and purlin sizing, we confirmed the structure was stout enough to handle the added load,” Mr. Pickett says.

The new solar power maker is now planning to add to the system.

“We are already seeing the benefits of solar each month on the electric bills. In fact, we were so happy with the results and the savings that we are adding a two-megawatt project that will add 6,360 more solar panels,” Mr. Britz says. “This will bring our total offset of electricity to 72 percent and will be one of the largest privately owned systems in the Valley.”

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